The Law of the Jungle
by PlaguedAmbition
Summary: I sacrificed everything, to save someone who will more than likely never know my name. Misunderstood, I ended up in a strange situation, now a Gnome is my master, I walk with strange mages, their bodies seem so frail, so human. I never should have left Sin.
1. Chapter 1

**PA: Awhile ago I was asked if I could start work on a Mira/Naruto fanfic. Well, I guess this is my answer to those questions. I haven't seen many of the other Kingdoms of Earth Land used on this site, so I decided to go from there and build this up.**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto nor Fairy Tail.**

* * *

><p>The year was X779. A blonde-haired teen sat along in a damp and dark jail cell. His body littered with cuts while his head was down, resting on his arm that was perched across his raised knee. Naruto Uzumaki was arrested a few days ago, the reason was a mixture between an overreaction and fear.<p>

The magic council had come across a beaten and bloody Naruto, standing in a field with a bunch of creatures around him, laying dead as the blonde stumbled through, clutching tightly to the bladed pistols in his hands. His eyes were cold and empty, devoid of any emotion.

Something struck the bars in front of him, yet he didn't bother to look up. The reason would be explained in just a moment, "Time for your hearing, on ya feet and no funny business!"

The blonde responded by standing up slowly and raising his hands into the the air. The door to his cell was opened and cuffs were placed around his wrists and they were attached just above his belly-button to a chain around his waist. It was to prevent the use of hands completely from those locked away. There was a sharp push in his back, the signal for him to move forward.

And he did, dragging his feet along the ground, and making sure that his tail was not stepped on. His orange tail gently swayed from side to side behind him, while the cuffs of his tattered pants dragged along the ground. His bare feet slapped against the tiled floor.

The walk was not as long as one might expect. It actually seemed like only a short time had passed before they reached a pair of large doors, his escorts pushed them open and unleashed the barely contained whispers of the people in the room.

Naruto was called forward to a large stone square that was raised a few inches into the air. Once in place, two large and sturdy chains clipped onto his waist and pulled him down to his knees.

"Do you understand where you are child?" A deep voice called from what seemed to be the middle of the people looking down on him.

"No."

"You are in the city of Era, and we are the magic council. Do you understand why you are here?"

"No. Where I was raised, self-defence was not a crime." He responded calmly, hearing some yells in protest to what he said.

"You said self-defence?"

Naruto gave a small nod in response, "I was feeling tired, and blood was dripping down into my eyes but I was not blind. Those men started to produce large amounts of magic, they didn't even bother to speak to me beforehand. I attempted to stop them in the most painless way possible, but as I said, I was tired, and blood was running into my eyes, I caught a blur off to the side, then it went dark. Next I wake in a dark place, reminded me of home for a while, only it was quiet."

"A jail cell reminds you of home?"

Naruto gave a small nod, and the council seemed to wait for him to continue, "I would rather not talk about it. There is no point any more."

"There is no point?"

"No, my home is gone. I am a stray." He spoke much calmer than most would expect, given what he was talking about.

"My name is Org child, what is yours?" The large man questioned, a small amount of softness in his voice.

Naruto tilted his head to the side, "I am Naruto, apparently it is meant to mean Maelstrom."

Org gave a small nod, "And how old are you Naruto?"

"It has been 15 cycles since I was born." When he saw the confusion on their faces he gave a second nod, "Years."

The council gave a small gasp at that, "You are quite strong for your age Naruto."

"Thank you, I was mothers favourite."

"Do you have any plans for the future Naruto?"

The blonde seemed to freeze on the spot, "No..." He trailed softly, looking down at the ground.

"I see. How would you feel joining a guild?" The question caused Naruto to lift his head up and show an expression of confusion, "A guild is a place for mages to make friends and handle requests from the populace in order to make money."

"I could try?"

"If one of the masters here would accept you, than I so no reason for us to continue this. I feel I will need to have a talk with the Rune Knights given their behaviour though." Org snapped his fingers and the chains fell from the blonde, allowing him to stand back up.

Naruto rubbed at his wrists as his tail started wagging from side to side, "I was not expecting this," He gave a deep bow looking at the ground in front of him, "I will try to live up to your expectations of me inside this community."

"I'll take him!" Someone yelled through the hall, Naruto looked around quickly, seeing that the voice came from a very small man.

Org gave a small nod, "We shall leave it to you to fill out a citizenship form for young Naruto here Makarov?"

The man now known as Makarov nodded in understanding, "I assume Naruto's possessions will be returned to him as we are leaving?"

"They are waiting for him outside." Org responded with a small nod.

Naruto took this as his cue to leave, calmly walking towards the doors he was let out, where a few guards were standing with his items.

First was his holster, it was strapped to his waist, and the final clip hooked around his ribs, he slowly took his pistols from the men, examining their spotless silver finish, while the wooden grips had a fox engraved in one, and a cross in the other. Attached at the end of the barrels was a strange hook-like blade. They quickly found their homes once more, his last weapon was placed at the small of his back, a long curved, razor-sharp knife.

Next was a locket that was draped around his neck, finally a dark-grey cloak was wrapped loosely around the blonde, covering his form from the ground to just above the top of his whisker marks, he pulled up the back of the cloak, covering his hair from view and leaving only his empty blue eyes viable.

No words were spoken, and Naruto stood still like a statue, waiting for Makarov to exit the doors, thankfully he didn't have to wait too long for the man to leave.

Makarov actually rose a brow at the teen, "When you aren't on your knees and in cuffs, you actually look quite scary."

"Is that a bad thing? Where I am from, intimidation is an important part of life. Well, was." Naruto looked down for a moment before quickly shaking it off, "I would rather not keep you Master Makarov."

The gnome-like man gave a small nod in understanding, "Fairy Tail is the name of my guild. It is full of people from different backgrounds. At times it feels like a gathering of lost people, each trying to find something to fill what they have lost."

Naruto gave a nod in understanding, "I will try to be respectful."

"That'll be a first!" Roared the small man, an action that caught the attention of Naruto, who rose a brow in question, "My brats are always being rude to one another. If you manage to stay 'respectful' for more than a few months, I will eat my coat."

"I can not imagine that would taste nice Master Makarov."

* * *

><p>The train-ride back to Magnolia was even longer than normal, mostly because, Naruto wasn't one for long conversations. Every question was answered in the quickest way possible.<p>

It was during this time though, that Makarov noticed the blonde wasn't wearing any shoes, it was strange, but the blonde didn't seem bothered by it, apparently, not wearing shoes was normal where he was from.

Sadly this would draw unneeded attention to the blonde, and when it was voiced, Naruto agreed that he would try these things called shoes.

So, on the way back to the guildhall, Makarov brought the blonde a pair of socks and some combat boots, figuring that they would fit with Naruto more than anything else. It lead to the current strange expression on the blonde's face.

"It feels different." He stated as evenly as possible.

Makarov gave a small chuckle, "Sometimes people leave things on the ground that can cut into your feet. These boots will help prevent that."

"Why would people leave things on the ground? That seems wasteful?"

"It would seem that way. I think there are many differences here compared to where you are from though." Makarov stated sadly.

Naruto gave his head a small shake, "It will be a learning experience. Having excess resources will be strange though. Where I am from, we had to fight over water. Nothing went to waste, everything had a use, and was used till its last."

"Sounds rough?" Makarov offered the blonde.

Naruto gave what could be classed as a chuckle, though it sounded more like a happy hiss, "It made us strong. The environment was harsh, we were forced to adapt, if not, we would become prey."

Makarov gave a small nod, "Where did you come from?"

"Sin."

"The kingdom?"

"It isn't a kingdom. Despite what it says, Sin is a land where the wildlife rules, we must follow the rules of the jungle, and adapt, in order to stay the hunters." Naruto fiddled with his locket beneath his cloak.

"I haven't met anyone from Sin before."

Naruto lifted a hand from beneath his cloak and pointed to the large building in front of them, "Is that our destination Master?"

That was a decent amount he got from the blonde, plus, it seemed like Naruto would just clamp up when other people were spoken of, or in this case, how he hadn't seen anyone from Sin before. Talking about general things, seemed to be okay in the blondes books, "That it is Naruto. Now I am not sure what to expect when we enter, my brats can be a little full on."

Makarov opened the door, and found a barstool flying right in his direction, before he even had a chance to move though, the blonde next to him caught the stool and placed it on the ground, raising his fist and shattering the glass bottle that was following it, the shards were broken down into a very fine powder-like mist.

"The threat has been neutralised Master." Naruto stated calmly, like nothing had happened.

Makarov had to bite back the whistle he wanted to release, "Nice reflexes."

The blonde gave a nod of his head at the praise.

"ALL RIGHT BRATS SETTLE DOWN!"

Most cringed at the loud voice of the master, while Naruto stood unflinching, "Master you are back, and who is this with you?" A red-haired female questioned, eyeing the blonde with a large amount of suspicion, it was to be expected though. One does not simply cover the majority of their features and not expect to be seen as suspicious.

"Oh, Erza. This is Naruto. He got into a misunderstanding with the council, but in the end they let him off with a warning as long as he joined a guild." He quickly explained.

The armoured mage studied him for a moment, before shooting her hand forward, "Erza Scarlet, I hope you are not destructive like the rest of the people here."

Naruto slowly moved his forward and took her hand, "Naruto Uzumaki. Big and fancy is bad in my experience. It draws too much attention to yourself."

"Ah you use a subtle type of magic?"

The blonde tilted his head to the side for a moment, "Somewhat."

"Oi Tin-Can, leave the new guy alone. Can't you see that you are bothering him?" Another female called, Naruto turned and noticed she had white hair, and a strange scent.

"She is no bother. I am just unsure of how to describe what I use. It wasn't ever given a name, it was more a way of life." He informed calmly, observing the interactions of those around him.

The white-haired mage walked forward and stuck her hand out, "Names Mirajane Strauss, but call me Mira. Also, don't worry about Tin-Bitch, she is a stickler for rules and takes them to the extreme, but everyone needs to cut loose right?"

"Letting your emotions become involved in a mission can often lead to death. It is ill-advised to let such a thing happen."

His comment caused the girl to take a step back, "Uh sure, whatever you think tough guy."

Looking straight ahead, he had to force himself not to growl, "I would request that you do not do what you are thinking about."

"Hehe, you have really good eyes mister!" A young voice chimed out from behind him, "But what are you hiding under there? Cause it keeps moving."

Makarov gave a small laugh, having already forgotten about the 'addition' on Naruto's body, he was about to speak only for the blonde to beat him to it, "It doesn't matter."

"FIGHT ME!"

The yell caused his ears to twitch, and his body to remove on instinct, spinning on his back foot and meeting a flying child in mid-air with an open palm, he followed through and placed him on the ground, not rough enough to do any damage, but enough to let the assailant know he did not appreciate the gesture, "I do not wish to fight now."

"After seeing that, I find it hard to believe that a Rune-Knight was able to sneak up on your Naruto." Makarov mused out.

The blonde tilted his head to the side, "My vision was blurring and I was exhausted, I did the best I could in the situation. It would seem that disabling 37 of them was not enough of a warning."

And jaws proceeded to drop, "I didn't know it was that many you were against..." The master trailed.

"It was only in self-defence. If they had of left me be, I would have continued on my way."

Erza rose a hand, "Why did you say disabled? Why not just defeated?"

Makarov already had an idea of what the response would be, thus he wasn't surprised when Naruto calmly stated, "Because where I am from, to be defeated means that life was lost. Disabling something means it can live to fight another day. I heard that many lands frown upon death, thus I had to change my way of fighting as I travelled. Had I fought to the death, I may not be standing here before you."

"I am glad you understand that things change depending on the land you are in Naruto. As Fairy Tail takes the 'No Killing' law very seriously." Makarov stated sternly.

Naruto nodded, "It is a way of life here. Like the Law of the Jungle in Sin. Here death is bad, there death is a part of everyday. I understand the difference and will do my best to remember in all situations that I am no longer in Sin. Little girl, can you please stop that?" There was a small amount of irritation in his voice.

A young white-haired mage gave a sigh and walked in front of him, giving a large smile, "Hello, I'm Lissana. I just want to find out what keeps moving under there!"

"Naruto, maybe you should just show them?" Makarov offered.

Naruto rose a brow in question, "I do not believe that would be a good idea, I haven't seen anyone else with one since I entered this land."

"Oh stop being such a flake already, just show us what you are hiding for god's sake, Lissana won't stop talking about it until you do." Mirajane spoke with anger in her voice, it would not do well for her to seem interested in the new guy, he might get the wrong idea.

The blonde pulled a hand out of his cloak, drawing his hood back, and undoing the clasp that held it all together. The cloak fell to the ground and no one said a word.

How could they? First of all, his body was perfect (If you asked the females), and if you asked the men, well they would comment on his scars, saying how cool they were. Next came the whisker-marks on his cheeks, Naruto saw some twitching fingers from the girls, already knowing that some people felt the need to touch them. Then there was the weapons he was carrying, he definitely wasn't your average run of the mill mage. Finally, was the tail.

"Master, I believe this was a bad idea." He looked at the younger girls, they reminded him of a creature from Sin, one that was of the ravaging kind.

Makarov gave a small chuckle, "I guess you could consider this your initiation into the guild?"

Those words caused the blonde to sit down on the floor and close his eyes, taking his weapons off and resting them in his lap, he placed his hands over the top to keep them safe, "W-what are you doing Naruto?"

"This is a test to see if I can maintain focus correct?"

Makarov honestly didn't know how to answer that question.

"Because if it is, I shall do my best to remain focused on not moving a muscle until they are done with what they feel compelled to do."

Part of him really wanted to stop this, it just seemed so cruel. But it was also a test of will, if he could withstand girls as the enter the 'cute' phase, he may be able to withstand anything.

A look of realisation came over the blonde, he lifted a hand from his weapons and took the locket inside of it, removing it from his neck and safeguarding it with the rest, "I am now ready."

"Well, you heard him girls, you can play with the cute fox-like man now."

* * *

><p>The master was floored. True to his word, Naruto had not moved a muscle, even when Erza tried to wear his tail as a scarf and Cana accidently stood on the same appendage. It had been over two hours now, and they were still brushing the tail against their faces, marvelling at its softness.<p>

"I-I believe that is enough now." He stated nervously, seeing a few pouts for his words, but they relinquished their grips regardless. He watched Naruto slowly loosen his grip over his valuables, before slowly placing them back in their respected positions as the girls moved away.

"I must admit I am quite impressed Naruto." Makarov said, his voice full of praise at the blonde.

Naruto turned his head to the man, "At times I would have to stay still for hours on end, watching prey so my family could eat that night. Focus, without it hunting is out of your reach."

Makarov gave a small nod, "Okay, well you have done better than I thought possible, so where do you want your guild mark, and in what colour?"

Naruto looked to his right arm, seeing the leaf-like symbol still in place, "Left arm, black." The older mage complied giving him a quick tap with the device and watching the blonde give a smile at the mark.

"We should talk about requests and where you will be staying for the time being. Until you have enough money, there are a few spare rooms in the male dorms, I am sure you would be able to use one for a month before you have to pay rent. As for requests, they are on the board over there, just pick one and bring it to me, I will sign off on it and call the employer to let them know you are coming." He looked to make sure he still had the teen's attention, "Did you get all that?"

"Lodging is available to me for use, I will have one month before I need to pay for its use. I must select a request from the board and bring it to you, only once you have signed off and notified the employer may I leave." He recited.

"Good, it seems like you have it all."

Naruto gave a nod and looked over to the board, "May I take a request now?"

"Don't you want some downtime lad?"

"Downtime?" Questioned the blonde.

Makarov gave a tired sigh, "You know, don't you want to relax a little?"

Naruto quickly shook his head, "I do not need to heal, I feel ready for service."

Okay, Makarov made a note, he would need to teach the blonde, the meaning of 'fun'.

"I can show him how to do a request if he wants?" A brunette called with a large smile on her face, she stuck her hand forward, "Name is Cana Alberona."

Naruto slowly put his hand forward, "The one that stood on my tail." He bluntly said as they shook hands.

Cana gave a nervous laugh, "I didn't mean it," And slowly moved back from the man who had narrowed his eyes on her, "Plus this could be a way of saying sorry?"

Naruto picked up his cloak, placing it over his shoulders and doing up the clip, "Actions do speak louder than words," He mused outwardly giving a short nod, "I will be ready when you have chosen our request."

Cana nodded, not really sure how to respond to such a stiff person, and moved to the board, finding something that was a little more than she would be able to do herself. After all she was able to see this stranger stop Natsu in one move, surely he would be able to handle a few bandits right?

She handed it to the master, who accepted the request with a smile, it was not going to be straining on the blondes abilities, if what he was telling was the truth after all, "When you return Naruto, we can finish your citizenship papers. Good Luck on your first mission."

"Wishing someone luck is a bad omen in my culture. Should our skills be proved insufficient, it will be up to the ability of our minds to overcome the threat. It also shows that you do not respect the talents of those undertaking the task you are wishing them 'luck' for."

Next note, teach the blonde how to just smile and nod when someone said something different, "I understand..."

"Also this is far from my first mission, even in these lands I have been hired out before. I have learnt respect for Wyverns, they are quite the predator."

Cana widened her eyes at the blonde, sure kicking around a bunch of Rune-Knights was cool, but if you were really lucky, than it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for someone like Natsu or Gray to do that. However, Wyverns were different, their hides were tough, they were fast and had keen senses. Not to mention that they incredibly strong, "Uh, how did you go again them?"

"Their hide was difficult to pierce without magic. It would appear that I was faster than them on land though, which was good. It allowed for me to run circles around them and look for weaknesses in their hide. The request was easy to finish once the leader fell." The blonde stated blandly, "We should look at heading to our destination, dawdling will do no favours."

Cana picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder, "Well let's stop dawdling than and get moving. Come on slo-" Her words were cut off as Naruto appeared at the door and cracked it open, "Show off."

The pair left without much more. Makarov was glad that Cana decided to show him the ropes, she was the least destructive of all his mages.

He saw Mira and Erza staring at the door, Erza he could understand, after all the blonde seemed to be a good mage, he was respectful and he didn't act like an idiot like the others, even as he said that though, he had to fight the smile that threatened to split his face, they were _his_ idiots after all.

Mira he didn't understand, then again, he didn't understand much about the eldest Strauss. She seemed to always be angry, but if her siblings are in trouble, she would drop anything for them, was she just angry at herself?

He said they were his children, but did he really know much about them? With a sigh he looked up into the air, wondering just how Naruto would evolve in his guild.

* * *

><p><strong>PA: What did you think of the first chapter? Was having Naruto come from Sin expected? Also, I know that hardly any of his past is revealed, and that is done on purpose. Naruto is going to grow through this fiction, and learn how to fit in to Fairy Tail, rather than being perfect for it already.<strong>


	2. Even Ground

**PA: I'm back, and with a new chapter. I am glad to see that people enjoyed the first one so much. Hopefully this one continues on that path.**

* * *

><p>Cana looked at the blonde beside her, she had managed to convince him to remove that hood of his, the cloak was a no go though, no matter how hard she pushed he just wouldn't budge on that subject.<p>

Their job was simple enough in theory. Play bodyguard to a bunch of diggers that were looking for an artefact, apparently these ruins they were digging through contained more than what they had first thought.

"So what is life like where you are from?" There was so much she wanted to know about this boy, and she didn't really know where to start, her question seemed like a good enough place though.

Naruto continued to look straight in front of him, "What do you consider a bad day Cana?"

The brunette brought a finger to her lips in thought, "I guess when I notice I am starting to run out of money. It means that I have to pay more attention to how much I am spending, and try to make it last until I go on my next mission. Where are you going with this?"

"Where I am from, what you described is a dream, something we can not hope to achieve. There is no universal currency for us. Some will pay in food, others clothes, some even materials for housing. If we do not work, if we do not learn to fend for ourselves... we die. It is that simple. Coming here has changed my prospective, a part of me pities your kind, while another feels a burning jealousy." The blonde gave a small nod as his eyes snapped around to the trees that gathered around the pair.

Cana flinched a little at his description, "Why do you pity us? The jealousy I can understand."

"I pity that you have not felt nature force you to become stronger. You are disconnected from the wild. As such, I can tell you, that we are currently being surrounded. Do not react, they believe we do not know. I can also tell you, that the group that is trying to approach and cut us off from the right, are about to run into a pack of wolves. They haven't noticed yet, 3...2...1..."

And as he stopped talking, a primal howl rung through the forest, the thought that he was able to 'feel' all of that was crazy. But more on that, why were there wolves this far down? It was too warm here for them right? She didn't have much time to think as she felt a tight grip around her hand. It was Naruto, he was holding onto her tightly.

A large group of bandits jumped out of the trees, running towards them, trying to circle them, as the blades raised high into the air, Cana felt a small tug on her arm, before finding herself in a tree, hanging upside down with the arms of Naruto stopping her from falling to the ground.

They were facing towards where they had just been standing, watching the bandits look around in confusion. Cana rose a brow at the situation, she was waiting for something to happen, and it did, the bandits slowly backed up into a large group.

She watched as a strange purple orb shot out of the ground and up into the air, hovering at about 7ft high, it stayed for about a second, drawing all eyes towards it, before finally exploding, a black ice-like substance covering the small clearing that they were just inside.

"Y-you killed them?"

"No. This is one of my spells, Crystal Prison, it traps people inside and slowly drains their energy until they are knocked out. It is one of the few spells that I have been able to readily adapt to the laws of this country. I told master that I would do my best to adjust to this difference in culture. While actions speak louder than words, sometimes your word is all you can give." Naruto calmly spoke, watching as his prison slowly started to retreat.

Cana slowly nodded in understanding, "Ummm, how are we staying upside down."

"My tail, which you decided to use as a doormat, it study enough to hold the weight of myself and a fully grown bull. A young teenager makes little difference to it." Naruto slowly stretched out and flipped her over, still holding on tightly to her hand as he gently lowered her down to the ground, his own approach, was much more rapid as he just dropped from his position and flipped onto his feet.

"This magic looks similar to Gray's, one of the boys at the guild. He uses Ice-Make to create static objects. Also, if it can hold the weight of a bull, why do you keep reminding me that I stood on your tail?" Cana questioned, the man was very, very strange, but she couldn't exactly doubt his abilities, not after how she just saw him quickly analyse that situation and react with a minimal amount of effort, for the best possible result.

Naruto tilted his head to the side and Cana could have sworn she saw fox ears on his head for a moment, only in black, "Holding up weight, and compressing, are two very different things. I also never said that it didn't hurt. Just that my tail would be able to manage."

"O-oh. Umm, I need to signal the Magic Council, let them know that we were able to capture a group of bandits. Maybe we will even get a bounty payment for this mission." The brunette explained as she pulled out a strange device and placed it near the bandits, activating it it flashed every few seconds, letting them know it was a tracking device or something.

Naruto looked at Cana for a few moments, "Bounty payment?"

"Oh! I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner, but you can go to places in the major cities called a 'Bounty Station', here you can get information on different creatures or criminals at large, the owner of the flyer, will pay you to hunt them down and return them alive, should they be human, or dead should they be animal. I think you would be really good at that kind of stuff right?" Cana tilted her head to the side and gave a small smile to the blonde.

Naruto slowly closed his eyes in thought, "It is like a request than? Only I get to hunt?"

"Yeah pretty much. Not many mages seem to do them, as we spend a lot of time working on our magic and kinda don't learn about all this tracking and traps and all that. It is becoming a lost art of sorts. Hey, maybe you could bring it back into fashion?" She mused, only for the blonde to give her a blank look in response, "Or not. Maybe you should speak to the master about it when we get back?"

"A sound idea."

* * *

><p>The duo approached a large group of somewhat scared men. Naruto rose a brow at the situation, while Cana gave them a friendly wave, "Hey, we are the mages you requested from Fairy Tail?"<p>

A larger man, with a round belly, something that Naruto didn't like to see, as it was a sign of sloth and gluttony, walked forward and gave a sneer at the two, "Yeah I called for mages, not freaking children! How old are you anyway, the freaking girl barely looks into her teens?"

Naruto tiled his head to the side as he slowly walked forward and placed a finger into the man's chest, "You insult the ones hired to protect your plump hide? Stupidity is one of the highest causes for death, did you know that employer?"

The man looked down at the blonde's finger and gave a scoff, "Are you trying to threaten me boy?"

"No, I am not threatening you. I am merely stating that you are sluggish in everything you do. You insult those from a mages guild whom were cleared for this mission, meaning that our Master believes we will be capable enough to protect your excuse for a hide while you do this job of yours. The fact that your form is so round and undefined means that you are sluggish with your movements, which leads me to believe that you don't do any work, and would rather pay people to do it for you. I pity your existence as a human and ask that you do your job, and let us do ours." Naruto firmly stated pushing his finger a little harder until his nail pierced the skin and drew a small amount of blood.

The blonde was hardly phased at all with the effort it took for such an action, after all, the man was soft while he was strong. Naruto gave a large fake smile, "Plus, we have already taken out a large group of bandits. Along with us having already accepted the request, the bandits will now want revenge for their allies. We now hold a stake in this, besides your currency, much like you do. _Or_ we could simply leave, allowing your group to be overrun in minutes and likely culled like the livestock you seem to represent."_  
><em>

The man took an easy step back, feeling a large stinging sensation in his chest, "A-all right, I get it. Each of us has a job to do. Let's get to it boys, these mages seem capable enough."

Naruto tilted his head to the side with his fake smile still in place, "Now that wasn't so hard was it?"

The card-mage was watching with a slack jaw, sure she was used to being talked down to, she was still just a kid after all, but the way Naruto handled it was maybe just a little over the top.

"Cana." He stated firmly causing her to snap to attention, looking in to those dead blue eyes of his, "You are in charge of setting up a defensive line and making sure no one gets past."

"H-hai! Ano, what will you be doing in the meantime?" She questioned hesitantly.

Naruto tilted his head to the side in confusion, "I plan on thinning their numbers as they approach, my magic should be able to handle this kind of situation."

"Umm, what magic _do_ you use?" Her voice was a little meek, after all, she didn't want to chewing out that their employer received earlier.

"My primary is Void magic."

Cana rose a brow at that, "I've never heard of it before."

"That is because I am the first user in this age. The last was thousands of years ago, at least that is what history has told us." His reply was bland as he checked over his equipment quickly, moving his right hand to rest on his large knife's hilt.

They moved to the dig-site, and Cana quickly got to work setting up a series of motion triggered spells at the entrance to the ruins. She watched as the blonde walked out into the middle of the field in front of them, raising his left hand into the air, his cloak flickering around him in the wind.

**"Void magic: Hunting Grounds!" **

Following his roar the ground around him started to shift, as large black crystals spewed forth, littering the ground and making a maze to the entrance.

She saw him move to one of the crystals and slowly meld with it, his form vanishing completely and appearing again next to her, "As they walk through the maze, I will do my best to make sure none reach your position."

The brunette dumbly nodded, yes Gray was also able to make things come out of the ground, but not on such a grand scale, and he certainly couldn't move through them like Naruto did.

Cana heard cursing from a bunch of voices she didn't know, assuming them to be what they had to protect the diggers from. Then a shuffling of feet, followed by a primal howl and many girl like screams.

A few minutes passed, and the screaming continued, in fact it seemed to increase in intensity. Then it all went quiet, like everything in the forest had just vanished. Slowly large cracks appeared around the crystals before they started to fall to the ground, showing a completely empty clearing, the ground even looked like nothing had jumped out from it.

"Naruto?" She called out, getting no response from the blonde, she gave a quick look around the clearing, there was no movement at all, "Naruto?!"

Cana slowly brought her hands up to her mouth, prepared to give out a loud scream for the blonde, only to feel a sudden weight on her back as she was forced to the ground.

"Even when the cost looks clear, you should never give away your position more than what is needed. The fact that you feared something may have happened to me, could be considered an insult. I do not believe that was your intention, but having faith in your team-mates is important Cana." Naruto replied calmly, stretching his senses out and feeling for anything out of place, "It looks like we got them all. Good work." He jumped off of Cana, letting her stand up by herself.

She turned to him with am open mouth, she hadn't had to lift a finger this mission. He did it _all_, but none of that seemed to matter right now, something else had gained her attention, "Uh Naruto?"

"Yes Cana?"

"You um, are a fox." True to her words, there was a large fox, not three feet away fro her face. It was black in colour with the same blue eyes as Naruto. The black fox tilted its head to the side.

"This is not normal here is it?"

Cana slowly shook her head, "No, no it isn't. I am used to people taking on characteristics of animals... but never turning into the creature itself."

"I may have misjudged how much magic I used in that short period. Like everything, it comes at a price. An hour or two and I should be back to normal, well, a human with a tail. Although it will take time for my tail to return to its natural colour. I suppose you will be able to keep this a secret from the others?" His ears twitched back and forth as he stayed in a seated position, which had him at the same height as Cana when she was standing.

"Can I touch your ears?" She asked slowly, it was understandable in a sense, she _had_ stepped on his tail last time.

Naruto narrowed his eyes on the girl, before turning his head away, "You may."

The fox let the girl have her few moments to gush over the softness of his fur, it was understandable that many wouldn't be able to picture how silky a fox coat could be, after all, they were quite tricky creatures to catch.

Cana took a small step back and collected herself, "Okay, I believe I can keep your secret. You should tell the Master though, as this may be somewhat important."

"I held every intention of doing such."

"There are like a million questions I want to ask you..." Trailed the young teen.

Naruto gave a small nod, "You get two."

The brunette took in a deep breath, "Does it feel weird being in the body of a fox?"

"No."

"Such a short answer?"

"Yes, and now you are out of questions."

Cana could have sworn that the fox was smirking, "You tricked me?"

"No you asked a useless question." The bland reply came out at a steady pace.

"But, but, but"

"One should think before they speak. I accept your apology Cana, I just thought I should let you know." Naruto turned and started walking down the hall way, before stopping and thinking it over a bit, showing up looking like this to the dig team? More than likely not the best idea.

Cana tilted her head to the side in question, "What apology?"

Naruto rose a brow in her direction, "You escorted me on this mission, as a way of saying sorry. I wouldn't go as far as to say 'thank you', but I now feel we can get started on equal footing."

"I think I would like that."

* * *

><p>The rest of the mission was easy enough, the Rune Knights picked up all the bandits, taking them away to one of those secure prisons. Well hopefully, Naruto had already found eight different ways to escape from his cell before he was called in to discuss his future.<p>

Naruto had reverted back to his human form an hour or two before the completion. Makarov actually looked down at the completion statement from the client, "Nothing was destroyed?" He looked up at the two, Naruto had a blank expression on his face while Cana held a large smile, "Well, it is the first time in quite a long time since I have had the privilege of reading that. Maybe some of my mages can learn from your teamwork?"

"I didn't exactly do much though Master, it was mostly Na-"

"Cana doesn't give herself enough credit Master." Naruto stated cutting the brunette off, and causing Makarov to raise an eyebrow in question at the blonde teen, "She claims that she did little, yet she informed me of the proper proceedings to accomplish said request, not to mention she stood to help with the translation of some of the terms our clients used. Her defence that she set up, in case I should have, not accomplished my task of thinning their numbers, would have been more than enough to keep the majority of them away. Should it have come down to it, and I was unable to assist, I fully believe that Cana would have had her priorities covered and had been able to accomplish the mission by herself." Naruto gave a small breath as he looked between the two wide-eyed mages.

"Without her help, I may not have been able to converse properly with the clients, which could have lead to a failure in our task. Saying that you didn't do much, is the wrong term, you didn't fight, but you were more than ready to. You provided me with any information I could have needed. Do not sell yourself short, there are more than enough people out there that will do that for you." The blonde gave a small nod of his head and stepped back.

Makarov gave a whistle at his answer, "He is right, not everything in this world is about fighting Cana. Anyway, Naruto, I will need to borrow you later, so we can finish your citizenship papers."

"I shall return in a few hours, going by what is worn by the mages in this guild, my attire does not exactly fit in. I shall rectify this and return." The blonde gave a small nod and turned to leave.

"Hey wait up Naruto, I'm coming with you." Cana got out before he had left, Makarov watched them leave with a smile on his face, it would seem that Cana enjoyed the strange company that the blonde offered, or maybe she was just into guys with tails?

He let out a small chuckle as he filled a beer for himself, sipping on the bitter contents of his mug. It was disturbed however, by a pair of hands slamming down on the bar next to him, "Yes Mirajane?" He mused playfully.

The eldest Strauss narrowed her eyes on the man, "I want to fight him!"

A bushy white brow crept a few inches higher at those words, "Why?"

"Because, I don't like the way he is so cold. I want to beat some human into him. Even when he was defending Cana, he sounded cold and detached." She reasoned quickly.

Makarov gave a small shake of his head, "I won't force anything. If you can convince him to fight you, then just remember our rules. I will warn you though Mira, he is much wiser than he looks. My brief talks with him have proved as much."

"Being smart isn't going to help him in a fight."

The master rose a brow at that statement, "That is up for debate Mirajane."

"*tsk* It doesn't matter, I'll beat him anyway." With that she turned away and left the master alone.

Makarov gave a tired sigh, _"You're expecting to breeze through this like everything else aren't you Mira?"_

The master looked down at his beer and gave a small groan, _"Well I best ready the training ground. Having them fight in here, or in the town would do no good. I can't afford to pay for all the damages Mira would cause herself."_

* * *

><p>The hairs on the back of Naruto's neck stuck out, causing him to look around in suspicion, this of course, garnered the attention of the brunette beside him, "Is something wrong Naruto?"<p>

His boot covered feet, which he was still trying to get used to, continued to thud on the ground, "I just felt a cause for alarm, but there is nothing of threat near us."

"Maybe someone is trying to curse you or something?" The brunette offered, only to see the blonde tense up, "You don't seriously believe in that type of thing do you?"

His head snapped around and looked at her with narrowed eyes, "We live in a world filled with magic, to say that curses do not exist, would be like saying that magic doesn't. For every Ying, there is a Yang."

"I guess when you put it like that, it does kinda make sense. Anyway the store is just over here."

Naruto was lead into a strange looking place, well strange for him in any sense. It was very bright, and much too open. Sure there were small 'stands' as Cana called them, that one may be able to hide behind, but all in all, he did not like how exposed everything was.

He was in fact, glad that Cana had come with him. She seemed to have a good sense of what to and what not to wear, at least that is what it seemed like, by the speeds in which she was able to sort through everything.

Naruto took a few steps and started to examine a pair of pants, they looked nice, but their material was weak. He understood his were not the best looking clothes, but they were durable, and they felt durable. These felt like they would break apart as soon as he started fighting.

"Oh Naruto, you are in the wrong section. Those are civilian clothes, you're gonna want something a little 'tougher' right?" Cana called from across the store.

Letting go of the pant legs he moved away, weaving through the path provided. He came to see Cana holding out a strange pair of pants that were on a rack. They were black, but they had these small golden flames around the bottom of the legs, only raising a few inches, but enough to be noticeable.

He walked forward and grabbed onto the leg, feeling that it was definitely sturdier than those from the 'civilian' section.

"These are pretty expensive, but they use the magic of the wearer to strengthen themselves and become attuned to your magic, meaning that your strengths will become theirs."

"But also my weaknesses correct?" He questioned getting a small nod from the brunette.

"That's right, Natsu wears the same type of clothing, seeing as his flames can get a bit out of hand, and no matter how hard he fights, I am never seen him destroy his clothes like some other mages do. He says that you don't even notice the amount of magic it takes to bond." Cana explained briefly.

Naruto gave a small nod and looked at the price, "I have enough for them."

Those seemed to be magical words, as the store attendant quickly appeared by his side, "We can have them made to be a custom fit, if that would please?"

Naruto rose a brow at that statement, "Because of the magic I use, sometimes I am forced to sprout a tail. I was wondering how the item would respond?"

"We can enchant them to grow with your body, meaning an additions will be accounted for when you infuse your magic. Your magic will work as a blueprint of sorts, showing the clothing what it is meant to look like. The clothing will adapt. This will cost about 60,000 Jewels though." The attendant stated with an even voice.

Cana went wide-eyed at that while Naruto merely nodded, reaching into his cloak and pulling out a large bag, and handing it to the attendant, "I would like three pairs, would the pattern by able to be changed?"

The employee was looking at him with wide-eyes as she looked through the amount in the bag, "Y-yes. Yes it can."

"Could it be changed to trees and foxes? I tend to like them, gold is fine for them to stay. When would I be able to pick up my order?"

"T-tomorrow, we will begin working on them right away." She bowed deeply to the blonde who returned the favour.

"I shall return tomorrow then. We should be going, I still need to find a place to sleep."

Cana nodded dumbly as he lead them out of the store, "Umm, how much do you still have left Naruto?"

"If I learnt to read the currency correctly... Just below 10 million Jewels. As I said, this was not my first request in these lands, but I am still not used to talking to the client." He stopped when he noticed Cana wasn't following him any more.

She had frozen on the spot when he said that, where the hell did he make all of that money?! Just what kind of requests was he doing before he ended up in Fairy Tail?

"Plus I still need to collect on the mission that put me with the Magic Council, I believe that was 5 million. Is that a lot? I haven't really needed to spend any before now, so I just stockpiled it, thinking nothing of it." He walked up to Cana and poked her forehead gently.

"You nearly have enough to buy a house outright... I think you should ask master for a place in the male dorms, save up some more money, that way, after you buy a place to live, you're not tight on money... even though I don't think that is a problem for you." She answered weakly.

Naruto seemed to give a nod in understanding, "Is there anything you wanted to accomplish while we were here?"

"Ah, no. I think I'm good for now."

"We should return to the Master then?"

Cana gave a small nod following the blonde as he moved through the crowds.

* * *

><p>"You're lucky that I understand this language Naruto. Not many would be able to read this." Makarov calmly stated, motioning to the stack of papers in his hands.<p>

Naruto rose a brow at the man, "I was under the impression that people now widely used this language for magic. I thought it would be widely known?"

"No, the Ka'lika was considered too difficult to learn. Most now use Runes, it is a much more simplified version, it is easier to learn, but less potent because of this, plus it can be broken much easier. While I use Ka'lika from time to time, it will take me some time to read through this and translate it. Are you sure you don't know Japanese?"

"I can speak it fine. I have never had a need to write the language though. The Ka'lika is known throughout Sin, and while Japanese is starting to take a root in there, I doubt we will ever forgo the Ka'lika for it." The blonde calmly spoke.

Makarov gave a small nod in understanding, "I believe you are going to have someone ask to fight against you... I only ask that you do remember that they are a guild member, meaning they are friendly... no matter what they say."

"It is understandable, one can not please everyone, and I have not been trying to be welcoming to those around myself. I have just been, less of me than normal."

There was a thud on the table, Naruto looked up to see Mirajane glaring down at him, "I assume you are the one that holds an issue with me?"

She gritted her teeth, "Yeah I do!"

Makarov let out a small sigh, "Take it out to the training ground, I will not have anyone fighting inside my guild."

Naruto stood and turned his back to Mira, "As you wish. Master could you hold onto my belongings?"

The old mage gave a silent nod, and Naruto took of his cloak, withdrew his pistols, removed his boots and placed his locket into the man's outstretched arms.

"Why are you handing away your weapons?! Fight me like you mean it!" Mira growled out.

Naruto turned and gave her a blank look, pointing to the pistols that he handed off to the master, "Those weapons were made to kill, not disable. I would rather fight without them on me, than risk accidently pulling it from habit."

"So what you don't trust yourself? *tsk* Should have known you were weak, this tough guy exterior is just trying to hide it."

The blonde didn't respond, he just moved to the back of the guild, lightly pushing on the doors and letting himself out.

Mira following shortly after with the rest of the guild on her heels, they came to see the blonde, standing out in the middle of the field, scrunching his toes against the ground. He closed his eyes and waited for his opponent to reach her spot.

Gray stood off to the side, his eyes focused on the two, much like everyone else, "So Cana, you have seen the new guy fight... how long to you think he is going to last?"

The brunette sucked on her lips, looking at the two and watching as the blonde slowly opened his eyes and nodded, "I think Mira is going to be in for quite the shock."

"You ready Flake?" The eldest Strauss taunted the blank teen.

"You clearly have an ulterior goal towards this, I neither care, nor can be bothered attempting to figure how your mind works. Thus I am ready." He replied, watching as Mira moved into a kick-boxing stance, a melee fighter? Naruto shifted his stance, moving his right leg forward a little and bringing his hands to rest calmly over the centre of his body.

He felt her feet strike against the ground as she moved, as she approached closer, time seemed to slow for the blonde, allowing him to move between her guard and land a rough elbow to her stomach, "Your guard is wide open while you attack." He didn't give her a chance to respond though, instantly following through with a palm strike to the same area that lifted her off the ground, and sent her back a few feet.

Mira coughed and felt small amounts of spit fly from her mouth, he was much stronger than he looked, and he already looked like a fighter. With a grunt she shook herself off, bringing her guard up again, she pushed off the ground, jumping high into the air and flipping rapidly building up momentum for her legs as she brought one down in a heavy axe-kick.

Naruto lifted a hand and grabbed it, ignoring the cracking of his hand in protest, he watched as the white-haired teen's eyes went wide, he brought his other hand up and grabbed onto her leg tightly as he started to spin in a circle, building up his speed gradually.

He brought her body down to the ground and dragged her through the earth, causing her to smash into rocks and break through them, seeming to have enough he started to lift her up again before letting go and sending her flying into a cluster of trees.

His hand that had cracked under the pressure was lifted into the air, he went about breaking his bones back into place and clenching his fist a few times for good measure.

Makarov watched the action with sad eyes, with some of his members were fighting the urge to throw up, while it was disgusting, and incredibly painful, one could reset broken bones using such a method, but doing so without flinching and without painkillers? Even he grimaced at the thought. The blondes pain threshold must be incredibly large.

**"Darkness Stream!" **

From Mira's flight path came long purple and black tendrils that lashed out at Naruto, the blonde watched as the came closer, drawing his large knife and holding it to the side in a reverse grip. Just as one was about to touch him, he effortlessly cut through it rotting the spell and causing the whole tendril to fall dead.

The process repeated more times than he bothered to count as Mira slowly entered the field again, her clothes and hair were a mess, with even a few twigs protruding from them, "You bastard!"

"Ninety percent of Sin is bastards, your insult is ineffective." Naruto blandly stated watching as her brow twitched before she let out a low growl.

Mira had underestimated the blonde, it was clear that she wouldn't be able to match him in hand to hand like this, her lips pulled into a smirk as she flung her arms down, **"Satan Soul!"**

The rapid transformation caught the interest of Naruto, once it was done, he internally praised himself for having picked up the familiar scent when he first met her, she was definitely part demon, this 'Satan Soul' only confirmed it as she held a very strong demonic presence along with look.

A few members of the guild cringed under the feeling of her form, Naruto flipped his large knife around in his hand, waiting for her to move.

He watched as her tail swayed from side to side, much like his own, her legs bent and Naruto moved into a crouched position on all fours, Mira leapt forward and instantly was met in the air by Naruto, who dropped his foot towards her arm, hearing a sickening crack from his strike, and a howl from the woman.

* * *

><p>"D-did he just break Mira's arm in one kick?" Erza questioned in shock.<p>

Makarov gave a small nod as his trained eyes stayed on the fight, "It would appear that he was just sharing his pain with her as she broke his hand at the start of the fight."

"B-but he is still using it?"

"Yes he is, it would be causing him a large amount of pain though. With the right magic, one can hold their bones together to support extra weight. It is possible that Naruto is doing such a thing, allowing him to continue to fight as long as he can maintain the spell." Makarov answered and saw Erza nod in understanding.

"T-that is very impressive. I sometimes mess up my spells if I get hit, let alone fighting with a broken limb."

Makarov gave a stern nod, "It shows great determination and strength of will."

* * *

><p>Mira was glaring daggers at the blonde across from her, his body was crouched on the ground again, while she was holding her arm and doing her best not to scream.<p>

"You can give up, I will not think less of you, but should this continue, your injuries will more than likely become worse." He was forced to jump back as her leg came crashing down where he had just been.

While his body was in the air he gave a blank look, "As you wish." He placed his knife back into the holder on his back before quickly making strange movements with his hands, "Duni dos, crylu so folsum. Actuno crea."

His black tail quickly wrapped up his body like a cocoon, shielding him away from the world. The amount of magic it gave off was terrifying, and a few seconds later Naruto's tail flung open, showing what could only be described as a human-fox hybrid.

He dropped to the ground and his new black fur covered feet dug their claws into the ground, his pants were gone, instead he now had black fur coming up to his waist, the same had transpired from his fingertips to his shoulders. His skin had become nearly bleach white while deep black line stretched down from his eyes.

His hair, like everything else had turned black and two fox ears sprouted from the top of it.

Naruto tilted his head to the side, "This is my curse, young demon. Allow me to show you its power."

He took a few slow steps forward that seemed to freeze the ground beneath him, then in a flash, he appeared next to Mira who widened her eyes as she was roughly grabbed and thrown into the air.

A few moments passed before Naruto dashed at the air and quickly started to run up an invisible wall, much like he was sprinting along the ground, only he was running vertically into the air.

He reached Mirajane in no time and grabbed onto her tail, causing a howl of pain to come from the teen before she found herself spiralling down to the ground.

She hit hard, pushing the away the earth around her and causing a large crater, Naruto dropped down next to her and made one of his own, before moving over to her, seeing her struggling to get up, he struck her once again in the gut, causing her to slam back into the ground.

He knelt down over her, his fist reared back as he leant in close, watching her eyes go wide with panic, "W-w-what a-are you doing?!"

"Do not be under the assumption that I will allow you to walk all over me, nor insult my person to my face. You are not the be all and end all Mirajane. Did you believe that I would just roll over and submit to your dominance?" He watched her shaky eyes try to avoid meeting his own, he dropped his first and settled for just glaring at her.

"Your pride stopped you from giving up when you had the chance, sometimes it is better to run so you can live another day, rather than fight when you are outmatched. Remember this lesson Mirajane, I do not want to have to repeat this again..." With that he lifted her head up and smacked his own against hers knocking her out and undoing her take-over.

He slowly stood and picked her up, carrying her over to the guild members as he undid his transformation, "She will be up and on her feet in a few hours, although her arm will take maybe a week to heal. With the right training, she could become a real force to be reckoned with. Right now though, she has very little control of this 'Satan Soul'... she shouldn't use it. In an actual fight, it may cost her life." He gently placed her on the ground in front of them and took his items from Makarov.

No questions were asked of the blonde, as no one knew where to begin, Naruto on the other-hand tilted his head to the side and gave a large fake smile, "I think I would like to rent out one of those rooms you were talking about Master."

* * *

><p>That was how he ended up being lead by Natsu and Gray. According to Cana, this was a bad thing. He could see why.<p>

"She was all like 'grrrr' and you were just like 'bring it' and then smacked her down."

_'I don't think I would every say 'bring it'.'_ Naruto thought inwardly.

"No flame breath, he was cool, words are not needed if you are fighting properly."

_'At least Gray seems to be on the right path.'_

"Plus he didn't say bring it, it was more of a 'That all ya got?' were you even watching the fight Scale for Brains?!"

Naruto gritted his teeth, he was doing his best to just ignore them, but the two were practically yelling in his ear. The reason he didn't just disappear? Because he had no idea where he was going, part of him was starting to think that they didn't either.

"No shit I was watching it Ice-Pick. You just got your ears messed up from all that stripping of yours. Hell I bet you didn't even hear what he said before that change of his!"

This perked the blondes curiosity.

"Well what did he say dumbass?" Gray retorted with a smirk, waiting for Natsu to turn into a stuttering idiot.

Natsu gave a wide smile, "Mother of Earth, Master of the Pack, bless this body."

Gray looked at the pink-haired slayer like he was an idiot, "No he didn't. I bet you just made that up."

"Sadly Gray is right Natsu. It was, 'Mother of Earth, Seeker of Skies, Brother of Blood and Master of Packs, bless my broken body and mind.' You were close though, I will give you that." Naruto gave the young teen a small nod, watching as he poked his tongue out at the Ice-Make mage.

"Where the hell did you even learn that?!"

"I learnt it from Igneel jackass."

"Oh right, your magical dragon father."

Naruto tiled his head to the side, "You were raised by a dragon?"

The teen gave a sheepish expression, "Well, yeah but no one really believes me."

"Of course no one believes you, that is crazy talk." The ice mage stated firmly.

"You should not speak ill of how people were raised Gray, for instance, you were raised to be a stripper, at least that is what you are showing us now." There was a few grumbles and the sound of pants being zipped up in the background, "I have met a dragon before, I do not find it hard to believe that Natsu was raised by one, as the one I spoke to was quite gentle."

"Wow, you've seen another dragon?! What did they look like? Did they know Igneel? Do you know where Igneel went?"

"Calm down Natsu, this was quite the number of years ago. It was large though, larger than anything I had seen before and a brilliant neigh burning white in colour. It shed some of its scales, which were melted down into the blade I used today. I do not know if they knew Igneel, nor where Igneel as left to... I apologise Natsu." There was a strange softness in the blonde words, it was actually the first sign of real emotion that anyone had seen from him.

The pink-haired slayer gave a large sniff and shook his head, "It's okay, I mean, you probably didn't even know the name until a minute or so ago. What was the name of the dragon you met?"

"Weisslogia. I stumbled into him be accident. I half expected to die in that encounter. Are we almost to this residence? I feel as though we have been walking for quite some time now." Naruto turned his head around, taking in the surroundings.

Natsu gave a small pout, "Yeah, we're nearly there. It has to be put really far away though, cause apparently we are destructive."

_"There is no apparently about that Natsu. If Mirajane is anything to go by, you kids are all single minded beings of destruction and know little about subtly." _He thought to himself, maybe it was bad for him to judge them so quickly? But he looked as the two had started an argument with one another again.

"I see." The blonde spoke calmly as they crossed the crown of a hill, showing a large house with lots of windows lining it, "I take it that the place before us is the residence that Master spoke of?"

"Yeah, that's the place."

A few minutes had passed, where Naruto introduced himself to the owner and handed over enough money to pay three months rent for his room. He was shown to his room, it was Spartan, having only the necessities needed to sustain life.

This being, a bed, water and gas for an indoor stove, "This will be enough for the time being. Thank you Gray, Natsu, for showing me the way here."

The pink-haired slayer gave a wide smile while the Ice-make mage gave a small smirk, "Yeah no problem Naruto. If you need anything let us me know, I'm more resourceful than the flame-eater here."

The two left, leaving Naruto to look around his room. He slowly took off his equipment and laid them down on the floor, he would clean them and perform maintenance on them tomorrow, he ran a hand through his hair and used his other to tear open a portal of sorts to Fairy Tail. He tossed off his cloak, after all, he had little to hide from them any more, and took a few steps through appearing in the main hall.

* * *

><p>Cana was enjoying a nice glass of juice when she heard a strange ripping sound behind her, slowly turning her head she was greeted to the sight of Naruto walking out of some vortex portal like thing. Her confusion, was quickly changed to a state of annoyance, "What was with that during your fight with Mira? I thought you didn't want anyone to know?!" She hissed out.<p>

Naruto tilted his head to the side in confusion, "Those are two completely different things, mostly. What you saw during the fight, was a different kind of magic than what you saw on the mission. It also holds... different effects."

Slowly the brunette nodded, "So, did you get your room and everything?"

"Yes, I was just going to visit Mirajane. I believe she will be waking shortly."

"Is that really the smartest thing to do?" Cana mused.

Naruto gave her a blank look, "I doubt she will attack me, I have shown her that there is a significant gap between us."

The two stood there for a few moments before Cana gave a small sigh, "Down the hall, third door on the left."

"Thank you Cana." With that the blonde took off, opening the door only to see Elfman and Lissana in there, when they turned around and saw him they stood protectively in front of their sister.

Naruto paid them little attention and sat in the corner on one of the chairs provided, "I mean her no more harm, I merely wish to converse."

"W-why would we believe you!?" The male spoke, trying his best to hide his fear.

The blonde tilted his head to the side, "If I were to wish her harm, do you think that the both of you would be able to prevent me from taking action?" He saw their faces fall a little and continued, "I want to converse with her. Nothing more, and I shall not settle for anything less." He added a little sterner before closing his eyes and waiting.

Nearly fifteen minutes had passed before he heard soft groaning, meaning she was coming to. She apologized to her siblings for worrying them, then made a promise that she would defeat him next time. It was about this point that they split and showed Naruto sitting quietly in the corner behind them, Mira gave a small growl and told them to leave.

The younger siblings did as they were told, begrudgingly but doing so none the less, Mira looked up and met the dead eyes of the blonde, "Did you come to rub it in?"

"No."

"Did you come to finish the job then?"

"No."

Realising that trying to figure out the blonde would get her no where she gave a sigh, "What do you want then?"

"Your 'Satan Soul'... You do not like it do you?" He spoke evenly.

Mira narrowed her eyes in suspicion at the man, "How would you know that?!" She hissed through clenched teeth.

"I could feel a lot of self-loathing from you when we fought. It only started when you used 'Satan Soul'."

Mira seemed to shrink into her blankets and sighed, "Yeah, I hate it. I hate what it does to me, I hate what it did to my family, and I hate how people look at me for it."

"I... I understand how that feels Mirajane. There was no one to help me with my curse... I don't want to see someone else go through the trouble of not having on to help them through it." Mira looked at him intently, causing him to raise a brow at her, "What?"

"Sorry, I just thought I saw emotion coming from you."

"That is possible, I have mostly cut myself off from my emotions so that I could no longer feel the pain of loss. In return, I can not feel happiness either." He stated evenly.

Mira gave a small sigh in return, "That is what bugs me about you. How can you just cut yourself off from everything? I don't think I could live a life like that. I mean sure, I don't like it when I am sad, or angry or hurt, but without those, I can't be happy either, I can't feel love and I can't get excited. A life without those is, well sad."

"This is what you are really like under that angry and hostile shell you provide for everyone else?"

"Right now I am too sore to be a bitch. Just don't tell anyone ya hear me?" She tried her best to look threatening, but when there are bandages over the majority of your body, and your arm is in a sling... it doesn't flow over well.

Naruto tilted his head to the side in question, "I used to be like you."

"What changed?" She questioned, there was a massive difference between them now, it was very hard to see them being alike.

"I was a take action first and think about it later kind of person. I was hot headed and tried to make sure everyone knew who I was. It got a lot of people I cared about killed. So I adapted. Embraced what I really was and changed into this." He motioned to himself with his once broken hand, having healed it completely when he transformed earlier.

Mira shifted in the bed, resting her head against the backboard, "Yeah, well, no offence, but the 'new you' is kind of a dick."

"You were the one that wanted to fight."

Mira gave a small snort, "Yeah and I was winning until you did that freaky transforming thing. Also what the hell did you mean by 'your curse'?"

"I made a deal with a demon fox. I can harness his power, but if I use it for too long, I turn into a fox in return."

Mira glared him down, trying to tell if he was lying, the only thing she figured out, was that he had a hell of a poker-face, "All right, I'll buy it for now. First of all, why would you do something like that, I mean who in their right mind makes a deal with a fox?"

"Who in their right mind would absorb a demon?"

The eldest Strauss sucked on her teeth, "Touché. So I guess you understand somewhat how Take-Over magic works?"

"Mostly, you absorb the soul of the creature, and than force them to submit through an internal struggle?" His response got a small nod from the younger teen, "I am sorry, but I find it hard to believe that you were able to beat a demon."

"None taken. Truth is I didn't. She let me win, and if I try to use her power, I can feel her slowly taking over me." She paused and then scowled, "What the hell did you even do to transform like that?"

"In Sin, there is a shrine where you can go at a young age. If you complete the trails, you are taught to embrace the essence of the beast for a time, to improve your physical strength and magic by ten-fold. I used to turn into a cat, not the most dignified of creatures, but it still allowed me to fight at my peak. After my deal with the fox, well, you saw what I turned into." Naruto calmly spoke while Mira nodded.

The white-haired mage stretched her back out, wincing in pain as it felt like she might have opened a wound, "What are the drawbacks, cause every magic has drawbacks."

"Should you fail the trail, you are turned to stone. Should you lose control of the transformation... you will turn into your spirit animal... permanently."

Mira let out a small whistle, "Sounds harsh. You know, I didn't expect you to be so well, open about everything."

Naruto gave her a blank look, "You never took the time to ask. Plus, as I said, we are a lot alike, and I am willing to help you train with your 'Satan Soul', as I doubt many others can stand up to it."

"Why would I need your help?" She nearly bit out at him.

"Because, I once sat in your position without anyone there to help me, I know how difficult the path you want to take is Mirajane, it will take years, and at times you will feel lost even in your own body." Naruto calmly stated, getting up and turning away.

"Say I let you help me, would you be able to do something for me in return?"

Naruto rose a brow at that question, he was not used to negotiating but he was pretty sure that is not how things go, "What would you ask?"

"Stop shutting yourself away. I understand you have been hurt, but shit, we are a family here, we'll help you through it ya idiot, so just give it a shot, open up that heart of yours, and we can kick this demons ass, how about it?" She stuck her good hand forward.

Naruto walked up and lightly shook it, "Sure, I guess I can give it one last shot. If it doesn't work, it won't take it too long to shut them all away this time."

Mira's face turned deathly serious as she narrowed her eyes on the blonde, "Tell anyone about this, and I'll kick your ass, I promise you that Naruto."

The blonde in return rose a brow at her, "Mirajane, we both proved earlier you can't."

"You idiot."

* * *

><p><strong>PA: A very awkward start to a strange friendship? I couldn't really think of a good way for the two to get to know each other, having it start over a meaningless fight, well, it seemed like the kind of things old people would tell young kids.<strong>


	3. Become Nothing

**PA:** I said screw it. Screw what I said earlier, our emotionally challenged Naruto deserves a chance to see how his relationship with the hot/cold Mirajane would work out! This is why you get a third chapter, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I own none of this.**

* * *

><p>Naruto had grown accustomed to the life of a member of Fairy Tail. Using the bounty station he had steadily been increasing the amount of money he had saved. He now had on the black and gold pants that he had acquired from the store with Cana. Along with a durable flak jacket that covered his chest, his cloak covering the rest.<p>

He had found the boots to be a constant bother, instead finding these 'combat sandals', they provided his feet with freedom, while also protecting the bottom of his feet from things that may try to injure him. Entering the guild he looked around at the members, a few of them waving kindly to him for some reason.

He did not understand why they were trying to be friendly, he had made no real attempt to befriend any. Maybe sans Cana. He often spoke to the brunette, though that may be because she was more mature than her age would suggest.

Mirajane seemed to avoid him completely, something he didn't understand. He was not going to ask her to train on her demon, but he would help if she asked him to. It was the main reason he continued to come to the guild of a morning.

Other than that strange dish that was served, he believed it was called 'ramen'. It had meat, a bit of spice and even some grains. At times there was vegetables as well. It was somewhat of a favourite of his, well, he preferred it, despite the fact that it seemed to be incredibly bad for him.

Naruto moved up to the bench and flicked through the list of items that could be made by the cooks at the guild, "Could I get your chicken and Rice, with a side of fish. For a drink, a glass of orange juice and a glass of milk?"

"Anything else?" The barmaid questioned, jotting down his order with a warm smile.

"No. Thank you."

"Not a problem, that will take a little bit though, do you want to drinks now?"

"That would be nice."

"Okay sweetie."

Sweetie? Why did she call him sweetie? Did she believe he would taste sweet like a berry? He did not believe himself to resemble a berry in any sense. He turned his head towards the Guild Master who seemed to have a knowing look on his face, "It is one of those things people say. I doesn't really mean anything. It would be the same as calling you a boy or a child. It is just a means of addressing you."

"I... I believe I understand." The two came to a somewhat comfortable silence, it lasted through the barmaid placing Naruto's drinks in front of him, and even the duration it took for his meals to be cooked. It was however broken in the end, not in a glamorous means like one may expect of Fairy Tail. It was instead broken by a quiet voice and a gentle tug on his cloak.

"Hey mister?"

Lissana, if he remembered correctly, the youngest of Mirajane's two siblings. A brow was raised as he turned to face her slowly, his dead blue eyes quickly taking in her form, small, frail, a child in every sense of the word. Her stance showed that nothing was perceived as a threat, a mistake, "Yes?"

He watched as she leaned in, obviously what she had to say was meant to be kept away from prying ears, he lent in, was it to humour her? He didn't quite understand himself, "Mira-nee was wondering when you were going to start her training?"

Ah, he should have figured as much. Mirajane was too proud to be seen asking herself, and the loyalty of Lissana would nearly force her to ask if Mirajane questioned such a thing near her, at least that is what he was able to pick up from his observations, "I do not wish to spend my time chasing after someone who does not wish to better themselves. In other words, why should I have to ask to aid someone? If they are truly worried about such a thing, and they have been given the means to end such, should they not chase the opportunity given to them?"

"I... I uh, will Tell Mira-nee." The young girl stated with a confused look on her face.

Naruto returned to his meal, faintly hearing the mutterings of Mirajane about his 'wording' being confusing, and that she would ask him herself. It would seem that while she did not understand what he meant, she would at least do as he had asked, though not knowing such.

Thankfully, she had waited until he was finished, though the constant tapping of her fingers against the table she sat at, while gritted on his nerves at first, had formed some sort of pace for his meal, allowing himself to eat along her rhythmic strikes against the timber.

Gently he placed his chopsticks down, and picked up a nearby napkin, dabbing at his mouth to make sure he was clean before pushing the plate an inch and a half away from him, signalling that he was in fact done with his meal. The moment such happened, he heard the sounds of feet striking the floor and coming to his direction, along with the small snickers from the gnome that he now called master.

The stool next to him was pulled out and someone dropped down onto it, letting out a small grunt as they moved to rest their elbows against the counter in front of him, "What's the deal Blondie?" It was Mirajane, did she believe he found that tone and the way she addressed him to be irritating? "I see you come in here everyday, hang around for breakfast then just leave. When are we going to start my training?"

"I do not wish to spend my time, trying to aid someone that does not seek it. Nothing more, nothing less." Naruto spoke calmly, making sure everything was still on his persons.

"What the hell does that mean?!" Mirajane growled out, watching as the blonde got up to leave, only to turn and grab onto his arm.

Naruto rose a brow at her actions, turning a few degrees to face her with the side of his eyes, "You should remove your hand from my arm. If you have something to ask, ask, do not attempt to slow me by holding me back."

"When are we starting my training?!"

"When you seek my aid."

Mirajane tightened her grip as he pulled away, only to feel him move right through her hand, she watched the blonde walk towards the door, only to see him stop as Erza ran up to him, "Naruto-san, I was wondering if you are not busy, would I be able to test my skills with the blade against yours?"

"It would seem that I am not busy Erza, shall we depart to the training ground?"

Mira was forced to watch as Erza walked off with what was meant to be her mentor, turning to the master she gritted her teeth, "What the hell?! He is meant to be training me!"

"Really Mirajane? Because I don't remember you asking to train. Merely when he would start training you, to which he gave you an answer." Makarov spoke a little too happily.

"Don't you start speaking like he does, it is bad enough with one of him!"

Sighing Makarov dropped his head a few degrees, it was quite taxing to come off as cold as the blonde did, "You never asked him to train you. Not once. He said he isn't going to train you, _unless_ you ask for his help. Much like Erza did now."

"Why didn't he just say so?!"

Makarov sighed internally, not bothering to tell the girl that he had said exactly that just moments ago. He watched ,probably , his most troubled mage walk towards the training grounds after Naruto and Erza, it would appear she had a plan of sorts.

* * *

><p>Erza watched as the blonde discarded his cloak, she quickly took notice of his open flak jacket that covered the dual bladed pistols around his ribs, on his back was the blade she really wanted to see. According to Natsu and Gray, Naruto had said it was made from melted down dragon scales. That had to make it incredibly strong as the scales of a dragon were said to be near impossible to break. She honestly couldn't picture the type of furnace used to melt down the scales of such a creature.<p>

Her eyes narrowed as he grabbed onto the hilt, flicking it out from its sheath and holding it in a reverse grip across his body. His stance was narrow, but still wide enough that he wouldn't trip over his own legs. The slight lean in his body suggested that he would be prone to moving towards the right. At least that is what he wanted it to appear like. She had watched him fight Mirajane, he never did anything without having a reason.

Slowly she drew her blade and took a steady breath, pressing forward and striking with a downward slash, watching as he took a small step, pivoting his body slightly and using his blade to angle her strike away from him, instantly putting her off-balance for her next attack.

Gritting her teeth slightly she spun her back foot, pointing it towards the blonde as her leading hand let go of her sword, striking towards him with her armoured elbow and grabbing onto the hilt of her blade in a reverse grip to bring it up in raising strike.

He caught the elbow, giving it a slight push to cross her body making her raising strike difficult to pull off, the extra half a second such difficulty provided allowed him to step far enough back to dodge the blade completely, before he quickly came back in, hitting her armour with the hilt of his blade, denting it with a single blow to the 'Knights' surprise.

She took a shaky step back, centring herself again, if he was able to dent her armour with just the hilt, it was more than likely he could cut clean through it with the blade. Such a thought made her somewhat hesitant about moving in to trade blows again.

Steeling her reserve, she took a slower approach, as she inched forward with her steps, she watched for his movements, to try to predict where he would move to. She noticed that as she drew closer, his weight shifted to his back foot, that meant that his presence was misleading, an act if you will, showing that his dangerous reach was much more than it actually was. A defensive stance, thinking back on what she knew of him, he seemed to have fox-like attributes, that is to say, whiskers tail and ears. Not to mention that ability to turn into some hybrid form of human and fox.

Her eyes narrowed, if he took after the creature in more than just appearance, it would make sense that his style was mostly focused around misdirection, as opposed to brute strength, which it may seem like at the start. Meaning that the strike to her armour may have been as hard as he could hit in this form. It was a theory, one that she would have to test further to make a more accurate judgement, but for now, she had to focus on him.

His feet, more specifically, as that was his danger range. Striking out past your feet easily put you off balance, meaning that if he was as proficient as she believed him to be, he would not, though that may be the perfect tactic to use now, seeing as she wouldn't expect someone of his level to do something like that. Inwardly growling at herself she let out a wide slash, watching as he let his body be pushed through the air with it.

She could feel the extra strain from his added weight, but if she were to stop now, he would be in a prime position to strike her, the only thing keeping him from doing so, was the fact that he was using his blade to keep hers from running him through. Reaching the end of her strike, she put in a bit more effort to 'flick' her blade and send him away.

Erza took a shaky breath, watching as he took a deeper stance, showing that he was looking to move now, "At first I thought that you focused around strength... It would appear that I am wrong."

"Oh?"

"Out of your hybrid form, you don't have much strength at all, well still a fair amount, but nothing compared to what you hold inside of it. Your movements have been goading me into making mistakes, which you then use superior experience and speed to make up for your lack of strength."

"Are you sure?"

That caused her to pause, clenching her teeth a little, "Though you could have been fighting like that to make me think so, meaning that you do posses great strength, meaning that when you go on the attack, I will not take it as serious, which could cause me to make a small mistake that may result in suffering an injury that could end the fight... To have such a mindset, you truly are from a different land."

Naruto gave a small bow, "I believe I will take that as a compliment. Though, I have been letting you test your offensive capabilities, do prepare yourself to now have your defence tested." He rose his form up again and looked towards Erza, watching as she nodded.

Though she never expected his first move. He flicked his wrist, sending his blade right at her throat, moving on instinct she brought her own up, blocking it, only to feel something prick against the skin where it would have struck.

"It would seem, that you do not understand such a simple rule. You can not be hit if you are not in the target area. If you had of dodged, instead of blocking off your vision of myself to block my faint, you would have seen me move. Possibly giving you the needed time to react to my true strike." Naruto stated calmly from beside her, one of his pistols in hand as the blade on the barrel rested against her throat.

"I..I see. Though I was under the impression that we would be fighting with our swords."

"You asked to test your skill with a blade, against my own," He lifted up his pistol and it was like the sun was on his side as it shined along the edge of what could be classed as a strange bayonet for a brief moment, "I do believe this to still be a blade."

"I see. I should choose my wording more carefully next time. I learnt a great deal, thank you Naruto-san." She gave a small bow to the blonde, watching as he returned the gesture and moved over to pick up his knife, placing it back into its sheath, while his pistol was placed back into its holster.

Naruto seemed to pause in his step for a few moments, "How long have you been practising with a sword Erza?"

"Only a handful of years Naruto-san."

"Then you are doing very well."

"But I am still not near your level Naruto-san, I feel I could be doing much better!"

The blonde narrowed his eyes on her, "I have been training with a blade since I was able to walk freely. Magic was taught when my body was to exhausted to swing a blade. You need not fret, you are doing well. Most your age would not have been able to block my knife, forcing me to send it to the void for a moment as it passed through you."

"I thank you for your kind words Naruto-san. Would we be able to continue this some other day? I feel like I may need to have my armour repaired... Though I feel like I need to ask, was that the extent of your strength in this form?" Her eyes narrowing in on him, looking to see if she would be able to spot some kind of shift to say that she was able to make him uncomfortable.

Naruto looked at her for a little big before bringing his fist into the air and slamming it down into the ground, forming a large crater around him, he looked up at her, as if to say, 'Does that answer your question?'.

Giving a small nod of her head, Erza gave another bow before leaving the grounds, she would need to speak to her blacksmith about making a stronger, much stronger armour.

Once Erza had left the field, Naruto walked into the middle, "You can come out now Mirajane... There is nobody else around."

"How did you know I was there? I hid as soon as you finished fighting with the Tin-Bitch?" She muttered out as she stepped out into the open, seeing his dead eyes roam over her body, there was no lust, no hunger in his eyes, it was as if he was observing a blank space, his gaze, felt like _nothing_.

"You lack the connection with nature to properly hide yourself from me. I could see the disturbance that your presence caused. That matters little though. Why have you come?"

He watched as she clenched her fists tightly, doing her best to keep looking into his eyes, "I want you to help me get control of my demon!" She nearly yelled at him, showing how uncomfortable this was making her.

Naruto gave an understanding nod and placed his hand on the ground, a black pillar forming underneath him, Mirajane watched on confused, until the same happened underneath her, letting out a cry of fright she dropped down to the pillar, trying her best to cling to it until it came to a sudden stop, nearly throwing her into the air.

"What the hell?!"

"Become the pillar. This pillar is nothing. Become _nothing_. Once you can become nothing, we can continue." She watched as the blonde sat down on his pillar, getting into what seemed to be a meditative position, no more than half a minute had passed before a few birds had started to land on him.

Her eyes narrowed on him, his breathing, it was almost as if it moved in time with the wind around them. His body, it acted as if it was _with_ nature, not against it like humans had grown to become. Sitting down she grumbled to herself, how hard could it be to do what he was doing. She crossed her legs, taking in a deep breath.

It was just like meditating right? Doing her best she levelled out her breathing, feeling the wind brush against her, sending a small tingle down her back, *crack*. Her body stiffened, *crack*, eyes shot open and she looked around her, seeing fractures in the pillar she was seated upon. Looking around she noticed that they were roughly at the same height as the top of the guild.

A fall from this height without using her Satan Soul would hurt, a lot, deciding to push down her pride she asked the question that she needed an answer to right now, "Why does the pillar keep cracking... secondly, will it break?"

"The pillar cracks because you lack the ability to become nothing. You must force your body to become, _nothing_. It _will_ break if you disrupt yourself often enough. I will catch you before you hit the ground, it is merely a way to measure your concentration. The Pillar is nothing, become the pillar, become nothing." His voice was so calm, not even the birds were disturbed by it as they continued to sit there, even starting to sing to one another like he was just a statue.

Gritting her teeth, Mirajane did her best to ignore the cracks that kept sounding off one after another, was her progress really so slow? And what did he mean by she didn't have the ability to become nothing? If that were the case why were they even doing this training?!

Letting out a small sigh she felt something land on her shoulder, creaking an eye open she saw a crow sitting there, staring at her intently, closing her eyes she tried to talk herself down from the incoming panic, _"It's just a crow. It is more afraid of you then you are of it. Just ignore it, focus on becoming no-"_

*Caw*

The loud cry caused her to throw her hands up in the air to spoke the bird away, it was followed by a crack, much larger than the others. Looking down she watched as large chunks started to fall away, before the base she sat on followed suit. Tumbling to the ground, her eyes shot over to Naruto, watching as he cracked open a bored eye, she fell for another moment, only to feel something wrap around her and lift her back up into the air.

Placing her atop the reforming pillar, "You were doing well. Try not to spoke crows, they are incredibly useful for scouting out areas as people often see them as pests and tend to ignore them." Naruto lifted a hand slowly into the air, the crow that had just frightened her landing on it a moment later, "You did well. You didn't get hurt did you?"

*Caw*

"I think I saw a dying rodent over to our right when I was coming up. You should still be able to catch it."

The crow gave what looked like it could be taken as a nod before flapping its wings and taking off in the mentioned direction, Mirajane had watched the entire scene, more than a little confused as to what was happening, "You talk bird?"

"I was merely saying that so you would understand. I gave the crow a mental image of what I was talking about. That was more than enough to keep him happy."

"So you're some kind of psychic now?" She mused, watching as his eyes closed again and a large number of birds flew around above them.

"Hardly. Projecting what I have seen onto a creature that revolves around the baser instincts is simple. It is more a method of conveying what I am trying to say through a means of projection, somewhat like you take in one of those 'movies' that Master talks about. It is the same, only without the use of machines. A form of magic that is long forgotten to the people of this land."

She took a deep breath to centre herself again, feeling the wind brush against her skin in a tickling manner, "What is it used for?" She questioned slowly and calmly.

"Mainly, it was used to show safe places, or great hunting grounds. Often places that could be used for ambushes. It has no designated use, I at times heard of couples showing beautiful scenery to one another in order to ease pain. Though I have never found a reason for this, nor do I see the 'enjoyment' in doing so, I believe that it may be helpful to those that feel the need for such trivial comforts."

Gently her eyes fluttered shut, her breathing becoming even, something around her changed, she couldn't picture it well, but she could hear voices, voices that she didn't know.

_"You're doing well my son. It will soon become time for you to go through your rite of passage."_

That was clearly male, she saw a flash of a person, it looked like an older Naruto, only kinder, his face much warmer.

**_"You think to tame me Ningen? How pitiful."_ **

Demonic in nature, she could _feel_ the malice pouring off of this creature, shining white teeth coming into view in front of a large slitted red eye.

_**"You're stronger than I thought Ningen. Though the void will consume even you."**_

It was the same voice, its full form slowly coming into view. It was a giant, larger than anything she had seen before, nine abyss black tails whipping around in a neigh frenzied state. It was a black fox. Her breath nearly hitched as it seemed to look right at her.

**_"You shouldn't be here__ Ningen."_**

A quick flash signalled the thankful change of scenery, though it would appear that voice had something to say past that.

_**"You will meet **_**her_ if you continue your__ path."_**

From what she could gather, this was the fox that Naruto made a deal with. Though what did it mean by 'here' and was it actually talking to her? If that was the case, what had happened? Wasn't she sitting on that pillar across from Naruto?

_"Naruto-kun?"_

It seemed like a gentle and kind voice, one that screamed out to her, she saw a red-haired woman slowly creep into her sights. She was beautiful, despite having the same colour of hair as the Tin-Bitch. Everything about her screamed that she was someone important.

_"Yes mother?"_

She froze, it suddenly came to her, she was in the blonde's memories. Was he projecting them onto her? No, that fox said that she shouldn't be here, meaning that either Naruto was doing it without his knowing, or not even Naruto knew this was happening. But then again, how would the fox know? It wasn't like he was living inside the blonde was he?

_"Have you gained control over this 'Kurama' yet?"_

Kurama? Who was Kurama?

_"We have come to an... understanding."_

_"Oh, that is too bad. I expected better from my favourite child. You held the most potential of all my children, yet in the end you have disappointed me as well." _

She saw the image of a younger Naruto clench his fists tightly, small drops of blood striking the area underneath him.

_"My deepest apologies mother. But this is different from gaining control over a spiritual form. It is more difficult."_

_"Are you trying to make excuses now? I did not believe you so weak that you would resort to using words as a defence for your actions. I did not raise you to be such a coward."_

Mira grit her teeth at the words of the woman, who was apparently the mother of the blonde across from her in the real world. Was this why he was so cold?

_"It is because of those 'things' you call 'friends' isn't it? They have distracted you once again, haven't they?"_

_"No. This is merely the result of current abilities."_

_"Oh, you have admitted defeat. A shameful act that not even your siblings would stoop to. Letting a demon get the better of you. You're not my child. Leave, do not return."_

_"I...I understand Kushina-sama. I shall not show my form around your camp again."_

_"I should just use your younger brother to fill your void. He seems to hold _some_ potential."_

Did she really just kick him out the family for something as trivial as saying he couldn't control a demon at the current time? Biting down on her lip she looked forward, watching as Naruto picked up a small blonde-haired child, his form giggling as he played with the offered finger of the older blonde.

_"I won't let anything happen to you... Sting."_

There was a burning sensation around her hands, and she quickly found herself staring up at a bright white light. Looking around she let out a groan only to meet the dead eyes of Naruto, "Did you find what you needed to in my past?"

"I, I don't know how that happened..."

"I told you to become nothing. Not to become inquisitive. This is the price I pay for thinking you were ready for this step." He stated neutrally, turning away only to have her grab onto his hand as it swung past her.

"For what its worth. I'm sorry about what happened."

He tilted his head to the side, confusion on his face, "That is the land of Sin. Our rules are vastly different from what one would experience here. That is the norm for one who can not control their strength. If you are a beast, you're cast aside."

"If that's the case, then why did you want to protect Sting!"

She froze as the words left her mouth, the room around them becoming incredibly cold, to the point that her breath was visible. The floor around the blonde had quickly turned to black ice.

"Do not speak of things you do not understand. Your mind and body are frail," He phased through her hand again and moved to the door, grasping tightly to the handle as he turned it, "You're training will continue once you have become nothing."

She heard the sound of feet approaching the door, but never those walking away, a small "Hey Naruto!" Was called out only to be followed by a "Good evening Cana."

Her lips pressed into a frown, not only at the fact that he seemed more relaxed with the brunette, but also the fact that if his words were the truth, then she had been knocked out for quite some time. It wasn't long before a crowd of people flowed into her room.

She noticed Gray's eyes quickly zip around at the black ice a question forming in his eyes, only to be put to halt by Cana who spoke up, "What happened?"

"Doesn't matter. What the hell are you all doing in here anyway?!" She bit out, feeling a need to try to maintain her 'aggressive' personality.

"Uh, sure. Naruto wouldn't use his magic over something that didn't matter." The young card-using mage remarked.

Mirajane bit the inside of her cheek, "And what would you know huh?! Are you two best buddies or something?!"

"No. Naruto just doesn't like using his magic. To use it over something that 'doesn't matter' just seems like something he wouldn't do." Cana muttered out, watching as Mirajane's eyes tightened on her.

"And there you go, prattling on about what you think he would do!"

Inwardly Cana sighed, nothing except hitting her over the head with a blunt object would wake this girl up, "Yeah, because I actually listen to him!"

"Shut up! You don't know anything about us!"

The room fell quiet as all eyes fell on Mirajane, there was a smirk on Cana's lips, showing she had gotten the desired remark, "You're right. That's why I listen. That's why I try to find out more about you guys so that I can get to know you guys."

Mira tore back her sheets and stood up, thankful her clothing was still in place, "Well don't. I don't need your help. And I am sure Naruto is long past needing help."

"Friends try to help on another out," Cana stated calmly, no one else in the room daring to speak right now, knowing that a volatile Mirajane was often a very dangerous one, "Weren't you the one that told him that? That he should stop hiding away and let us all help him?"

"I was wrong!... Just... Just leave me alone." The white-haired woman muttered out, somewhat defeated as she turned away from the group and jumped from the window.

Gray seemed to find his voice, pointing at a large amount of black ice that was fading away, "What the hell is that?!"

"Naruto's magic. 'Void Magic', it is actually crystal, its cold nature comes from the emptiness inside of it. At least that is what he said to me." Cana replied lamely scratching her head a little, "But let's go, I don't see much more of a reason to stick around in this room."

"Great, now I have two ice-brains to deal with."

"Shut up flame-breath, didn't you just hear Cana, its _crystal_ not ice."

"They are the same thing... right?"

* * *

><p><strong>PA:<strong> A little bit shorter than normal, but I felt like if I continued to the next section, it would be much too long. Plus this felt like a good place to end it. We have found at a bit more about Naruto's past, along with who his little brother was. Though if you were paying attention last chapter. You may have had an idea already.


End file.
